


You Can Stay if You Want

by fangirl_of_earth



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-13 22:57:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7141535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_of_earth/pseuds/fangirl_of_earth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico has been disappearing into the woods at night and Will goes to investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can Stay if You Want

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after Blood of Olympus but before The Lost Oracle. Will and Nico are not yet together.

Will passed the boy twice before realizing he was there.

It was dark at night and the little moonlight that shone from the sky was shrouded by thick trees. Nico practically melted into the shadows, so with almost no light, it was no wonder Will missed him the first two times. 

He had been doing this often recently. Nico would go into the forest after dinner and no one would see him until the morning at breakfast. In fact, nobody seemed to notice his absence at all. Except Will. Will always noticed. Always watched the boy's dark form slink away between the tangled mess of roots and the intimidating wall of trunks. Always prayed to his father that Nico would be safe. But one thing Will never did was pry. He respected Nico's privacy more than anything else. He never followed him into the woods; never asked him what he was doing.

Until tonight.

Will waited until everyone was asleep before sneaking out of his cabin, past the harpies, and into the forest. After stumbling blindly for a solid hour and a half, Will was ready to give up, when he spotted a dark shape alongside the river. He slowly creeped closer until it resembled the huddled mass of Nico Di Angelo

"Nico," Will spoke slowly, so as not to startle the boy, "Nico is that you?"

Nico's posture suddenly stiffened like he had been electrocuted.

"Hey Neeks." Will stepped closer.

Nico mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that Neeks?"

"I said don't call me that!" the boy snapped. He whipped his head around suddenly and stared up at Will. His brown eyes were watery and looked as washed away as the muddy banks of the river. His face was pale and hollow.

And tearstained.

Will inhaled sharply. Of all the things Nico could have been doing out here, Will never imagined he would be crying.

"I'm sorry," Will apologized, sitting down. Nico turned away again and stared at the water flowing steadily downstream. His black messy black hair fell in his face, covering his eyes. Will wanted desperately to reach out and move it away, but managed to restrain himself.

They sat there in silence for a few moments watching the river swirl around and rush over rocks. It moved deliberately and with purpose. More purpose than Will felt he had for being there, sitting next to Nico.

"Nico what are you doing out here?" He didn't answer. "What's wrong? Why won't you tell me? Isn't that what friends do?"

Nico winced at Will's last question as if he had been slapped. What if Will was wrong? What if they weren't friends? He thought it would be easier to confess his feelings to Nico if they already trusted each other. But if Nico didn't even like him as a friend...

"I want to be," Nico suddenly said.

"What?"

Then Nico started speaking so fast Will could hardly understand him. He articulated each syllable messily, practically spitting the words out. He tripped over each sentence as the words flew off his tongue in a flurry of almost forced speech.

"I want to be friends with you. I want to be friends with more people at camp. I want to but I can't. I just can't, no matter how hard I try. I'm not good with people. I try, I really do, but it doesn't matter. It's because of my fucking dad. He was an outcast so it's only natural that I am too. He's the king of Hell. That's not exactly something people consider a good character trait. I blend into the shadows. I'm always gloomy. Look at you! You're a perky ray of sunshine with perfect teeth and perfect golden hair and...and...and you're perfect Will! And look at me! I don't belong in this world! I'm death! How could I ever be anything other than someone's enemy?!"

Nico's eyes were so wild, his gaze so intense. He stared at Will, panting. Will watched the fast rise and fall of his chest open-mouthed in shock. Then he slowly lifted his head and the two boys locked eyes.

"So you do want to be friends?"

"I guess..."

"What does that mean?"

"It's just...um..." Nico stuttered, suddenly flustered. "I don't know. I guess 'friends' isn't exactly the word I would use."

Will wasn't sure what that meant. He was hoping it meant something more, but was not about to assume anything.

"I like you Nico," Will whispered slowly, annunciating each consonant clearly. "I really like you. More than you think."

Then Will leaned forward and lightly kissed Nico's cheek. It wasn't much. Just a simple brush of the lips against his cold skin. But to Will, it felt like so much more.

Nico's face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson and he ducked his head away quickly.

Will scrambled to his feet, blushing profusely. "I'm sorry! I-I'm s-so sorry! I didn't mean to...well I did but... I'll just leave." He spun around and started walking briskly away.

"Wait!"

Will stopped dead in his tracks and gradually pivoted to face Nico—who was still hiding his face.

"Please don't go. You can stay if you want."

Will hesitantly inched forward and sat down next to him again.

"I'm tired," Nico declared. He turned around and laid on his side so he faced away from Will.

Will rolled onto his side too so he faced away from Nico. He realized Nico must have been sleeping there all alone during the night for the past few weeks. The ground wasn't as hard as you'd imagine, though. Some occasional grass or moss would make it a bit softer.

Will kept his eyes open until he heard Nico's breathing steady to a gentle pattern like a finally repaired clock or a pulsing heartbeat.

"Goodnight, Neeks."

His eyelids fluttered shut and he drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first fic I ever published for others to see and I know it's really bad. I really appreciate feedback so I can improve. Thank you so much for reading this fic! ^-^


End file.
